Now that the semester is over and I am no longer being graded for my blogs, I want to take this time to move away from the original theme. I may still talk about my works in progress, but I don’t know how beneficial that will be to you as a reader (other than to get you excited for what’s to come). This blog is going to be more of a miscellaneous thought dump bi-weekly as a way to keep me consistent with posting but also to give more insight into who I am as a person rather than just an author.
This kickoff on May 2nd will be my first of many ungraded blog posts. It will also be the second day of my own personal challenge: post on socials every day of May.
I have a really hard time engaging on social media because I am both busy (and unable to prioritize it) and don’t have a good handle on how to boost my engagement (especially on Instagram). Since I won’t be in school from May to August, this is a perfect time for me to get into a consistent daily routine; from X to TikTok, some accounts of mine will have a post daily. (I don’t have threads yet because I honestly don’t want to commit to it entirely because of privacy reasons.)
I also plan to do a lot more reading this summer. While I unfortunately was called for jury duty and I am now working full time this summer (yay!) at my local indie bookstore, I want to make sure I still have time to read – not only to bolster my current repertoire but also to catch up on some trends.
These books will be (hopefully):
Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
The Last Apothecary by Sarah Penner
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
Sons of Liberty by Sydney Hamilton
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
I highly doubt I will get to all of these but I can only hope.
Among other things, I want to get at least three drafts into my sapphic Robin Hood retelling (more details on that later), and I want to fully plan my idea for a fantasy western (also more details later). I desperately want to break into the Shakespearean retelling scene, but that requires me to critically take apart a play and without absolutely breaking my psyche, that won’t be a this summer job.
Outside of work and projects, I am so fortunate to be able to attend the VA Renaissance Faire with one of my closest friends (we’re dressing as Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) so be on the lookout for content related to that. I desperately want to pick up a new hobby that will translate well to school because I have been incredibly bored for the last month and a half. The amount of TV I have watched is insane.
I wish I could say I was traveling this summer but I’m broke, so the 45 minute drive to and from work everyday will be enough traveling for me.
I’m also starting my query journey (sorta again) for DESCENDANT OF PYTHIA. I technically did query this project under the SON OF ATLAS name two and a half years ago (I think?). And since then I have had at least four major rewrites and an entire upheaval of the world within the novel. Here’s to hoping it gets picked up because I love this thing with everything in me.
I am also looking for ways to publish my play (the Peter Pan retelling) now that it’s been produced by my school. That is on more of the backburner, though, because there are probably a few places I can rework within the script (just based on suggestions from my director after it was way too late to make line changes).
Here’s to a great and productive summer! Next post, I think I’m going to talk about my experience getting my play produced and more of my other projects.
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